This invention relates to a door safety barrier particularly intended to prevent an intruder from breaking through a door and gaining unwantedxe2x80x94and potentially unlawfulxe2x80x94entry into a building. In many instances, the doors and doorways included in private dwellings such as apartments, condominiums or single-family homes are installed without including any type of supplemental protection other than conventional key-operated locks. While the doors in such dwellings typically include peepholes for viewing the area on the other side of the door, once the door is unlocked and opened, no other barrier is provided to prevent an intruder from gaining entry. Those dwellings which do include supplemental locking devices usually have conventional chain latches installed on the exterior doors and doorways. Although a chain latch will permit an individual to partially open a door to speak with a person standing outside the doorway, the poor construction and installation of the chain latch makes it an ineffective device for preventing the person outside from applying pressure to the door, breaking the chain latch, and gaining entry into the dwelling.
The door safety barrier of the present invention provides a simple and effective solution to the shortcomings of prior art chain latches and other supplemental locking devices. The door safety barrier is used in place of or in addition to a conventional chain latch or other locking device for permitting a door mounted in a doorway to be opened wide enough to permit parcels or packages to be passed through the doorway without allowing an intruder to enter the dwelling. The door safety barrier uses commonly available materials and components which may be easily and inexpensively manufactured and supplied to the user in many different forms, and takes advantage of a housing which is securely embedded into a floor adjacent a doorway. A steel plunger is positioned within the housing and is activated by a foot-actuated latching device contained within the housing to rise above the housing and floor to prevent the door from opening completely. Capable of withstanding over xc2xd ton of static pressure, the door safety barrier of the present invention allows an individual to partially open an exterior door without jeopardizing his or her safety by relying upon an ineffective prior art chain latch or other inadequate latching device, and thus decreasing the risk that an intruder will break down the door and ultimately gain access to the dwelling through the doorway.
Therefore, it is an object of the invention to provide a door safety barrier that functions as a door stop for allowing a door mounted within a doorway to be partially opened, while simultaneously preventing the door to be opened wide enough to permit an individual to step across the threshold of the doorway and gain unwanted entry into a private dwelling or other building.
It is another object of the invention to provide a door safety barrier that is inexpensive and easy to manufacture from commonly available components.
It is another object of the invention to provide a door safety barrier that may be easily installed in a floor adjacent a doorway either during construction of the dwelling or other building, or after such construction is completed.
It is another object of the invention to provide a door safety barrier which allows a door to be opened wide enough to pass packages or small items through the opening created between the door and doorway, yet prevents the door from being opened wide enough to permit an individual to enter through the doorway.
It is another object of the invention to provide a door safety barrier which includes a sensor system for permitting the door safety barrier to communicate with a remote alarm system. These and other objects of the present invention are achieved in the preferred embodiments disclosed below by providing a door safety barrier for being positioned adjacent a doorway having a door mounted therein. The door safety barrier is for interfering with movement of the door relative to the doorway and defines a security opening between the door and the doorway for preventing entry therethrough. The door safety barrier includes a housing for being embedded into a floor adjacent the door. The housing defines a chamber therein. An elongate plunger is positioned within the chamber for reciprocating movement between an extended, operative position above the floor for engaging a side of the door to prevent movement of the door past the plunger, and a retracted, inoperative position below the bottom of the door for permitting passage of the door over the plunger. A latch assembly cooperates with the housing and the plunger for alternately locking the plunger in the extended, operative and retracted inoperative positions, respectively.
According to one preferred embodiment of the invention, the door safety barrier includes a flange attached to an upper edge of the housing and adapted for being secured to an upper surface of the floor.
According to another preferred embodiment of the invention, the door safety barrier includes a plurality of spaced-apart holes defined by the flange and adapted for receiving screws therethrough for attaching the flange to the upper surface of the floor.
According to yet another preferred embodiment of the invention, the latch assembly includes an elongate rod having a first end positioned on an interior floor of the housing and a second end centrally disposed within a concentrically-positioned bore defined within and extending along the axial length of the plunger for supporting the plunger within the housing.
According to yet another preferred embodiment of the invention, the latch assembly further includes a spring formed around and extending along the length of the rod. The spring is captured between the floor of the housing and an interior surface defining the bore for moving the plunger through the opening of the chamber by expanding and contracting in response to the presence and absence, respectively, of downward pressure on an upper face of the plunger.
According to yet another preferred embodiment of the invention, the latch assembly further includes a follower member having a first end captured within the interior floor of the housing and a second end slidably engaging a complementary cam groove defined in a sidewall of the plunger for selectively moving the plunger between the extended, operative and retracted, inoperative positions.
According to yet another preferred embodiment of the invention, the second end of the follower member includes a hooked tip captured within the cam groove for selectively engaging complementary first and second release points defined within and interconnected by the cam groove for maintaining the plunger in the retracted, inoperative position and the extended, operative position, respectively, in the absence of downward pressure on the upper face of the plunger.
According to yet another preferred embodiment of the invention, the door safety barrier includes a sensor in communication with the door safety barrier for producing an alarm in response to motion stimuli detected by the sensor.
According to yet another preferred embodiment of the invention, the sensor is an electromagnetic sensor.
According to yet another preferred embodiment of the invention, the electromagnetic sensor includes a magnetic field sensitive device connected to the housing and cooperating with a complementary magnetic field producing device connected to the plunger.
According to yet another preferred embodiment of the invention, the electromagnetic sensor includes a magnetic field sensitive device connected to the plunger and cooperating with a complementary magnetic field producing device connected to the housing.
According to yet another preferred embodiment of the invention, the magnetic field sensitive device includes at least one Hall Effect sensor.
According to yet another preferred embodiment of the invention, the magnetic field producing device includes at least one magnet.
According to yet another preferred embodiment of the invention, the door safety barrier further includes at least one annular spacer positioned between the flange and the upper surface of the floor for preventing damage to the upper surface.
An embodiment of a method according to the invention is provided for constructing a seamless floor-to-wall baseboard from a resilient thermoplastic flooring material and adapting the baseboard to an outside corner. The method includes the step of providing a door safety barrier for being positioned adjacent a doorway having a door mounted therein for interfering with movement of the door relative to the doorway and defining a security opening between the door and the doorway for preventing entry therethrough. The door safety barrier includes a housing for being embedded into a floor adjacent the door and secured to an upper surface of the floor, said housing defining a chamber therein. An elongate plunger is positioned within the chamber for reciprocating movement between an extended, operative position above the floor for engaging a side of the door to prevent movement of the door past the plunger, and a retracted, inoperative position below the bottom of the door for permitting passage of the door over the plunger. A latch assembly cooperates with the housing and the plunger for alternately locking the plunger in the extended, operative and retracted inoperative positions, respectively. The method also includes the step of drilling a hole through the floor, the hole defined by cylindrical sidewalls adapted for receiving the housing therethrough. The door safety barrier is then positioned through the hole such that the housing engages the cylindrical sidewalls for permitting reciprocating movement of the plunger through the hole between the extended, operative and retracted, inoperative positions. The housing is then secured to the upper surface of the floor.
According to one embodiment of the method according to the invention, the securing step includes attaching a flange connected to an upper edge of the housing to the upper surface of the floor.
According to another embodiment of the method according to the invention, the securing step further includes placing a plurality of screws through complementary spaced-apart holes defined by the flange and adapted for receiving the screws therethrough for attaching the flange to the upper surface of the floor.
According to yet another embodiment of the method according to the invention, the method further includes the step of providing at least one annular spacer for being positioned between the flange and the upper surface of the floor for preventing damage to the upper surface.
According to yet another embodiment of the method according to the invention, the method further includes the step of positioning the at least one spacer around an exterior sidewall of the housing prior to positioning the door safety barrier through the hole.